US judge rejects Boeing plea deal

6/12/2024 5:58

        A U.S. federal judge on Thursday
        rejected Boeing's agreement to plead guilty to fraud in the wake
        of two fatal 737 MAX crashes, faulting a diversity and inclusion
        provision in the deal regarding the selection of an independent
        monitor to audit the planemaker's compliance practices.
        
        Boeing and the Justice Department now have 30 days to update
        the court on how they plan to proceed in the case, Judge Reed C.
        O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas ordered.
        
        Spokespeople for Boeing and DOJ did not respond immediately
        to requests for comment.
        
        Relatives of the victims of the two 737 MAX crashes, which
        occurred in 2018 and 2019 and killed 346 people, have called the
        agreement a "sweetheart" deal that failed to adequately hold
        Boeing accountable for the deaths of their loved ones.
        
        The two plane crashes occurred in Indonesia and Ethiopia
        over a five-month period.
        
        The judge's objections center on the government's diversity
        and inclusion policy covering the selection of an independent
        monitor to oversee Boeing's compliance with the agreement for
        three years.
        
        "The plea agreement requires the parties to consider
        race when hiring the independent monitor," O'Connor wrote in his
        decision. "In a case of this magnitude, it is in the utmost
        interest of justice that the public is confident this monitor
        selection is done based solely on competency."